October 31st is coming. So are your friends in their sexiest Pizza Rat/Kim Davis costumes. But your walls just aren’t looking.... evil enough. Sure, projecting the right movie can create the desired atmosphere—but beware: cerebral <em>Paranormal Activity</em> could be mistaken for <em>Curb Appeal</em>. This guide helps you choose the right flick for your apple bobbing activities. Or whatever you bob for these days.
If your friends tend to dress as Elvis for Halloween—film critic Elvis Mitchell, that is—Leprechaun 3 won’t cut it. But black-and-white and foreign horror classics like Nosferatu and the 1925 version of Phantom of the Opera will flicker eerily on the wall. Werner Herzog’s 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre earns points for Euro trashiness.
Complement that moody, dark-red atmosphere you’ve created by going full-tilt vampire. But note: not every bloodsucker creates the same alluring vibe. Ruffled shirt vampires—take Lestat, for example—have that certain dashing-whatever-thing happening. Characters from the Twilight films: little more Emo than Goth.
Grape eyeballs and dry ice cocktails are good start. But to get your party veering into sicker territory, fire up films like Hellraiser with its sinister Pinhead, Eraserhead and its alien babies, or Rec with it zombies-meets-reality TV vibe. Or just put on the Kardashians.
You want to keep things Halloween-y, but don’t want to gross anyone out. Time to deploy the Young Frankensteins, Beetlejuices and Chuckies of the film world. Even a classic camp-based ’80s slasher flick like Friday the 13th can work. For every fright, there’s a hilarious perm or pair of ridiculously ’70s shorts to keep everyone chuckling... or terrified.
